Internal-combustion engine with energy storing means



R. M. KING July 10, 1951 INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE WITH ENERGY STORING MEANS Filed Aug 9, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

- I H. M King R. M. KING July 10,195]

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE WITH ENERGY STORING MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9. 1949- 2 a a a J 0 1 3 a ,9 J8 INVENTOR. a 59 A. M Kim s BY.

Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED STATES rnrgnrr o-FFrc-E INTERNAL-COMBUSTION. ENGINE WITH ENERGY STOBING.MEANS 9 Claims.

This invention .relates to improvements in variable strokeinternal combustion engines with energy storing means and has for its object to providean arrangement wherein an. engine operating on the principle of an internal combustion engine is combined with an energy storing and delivering device preferably in the form .of .a sprin and affording mechanical power for a variety of useful purposes.

A further object. of. the-invention .is the provision of a variable strokeinternal combustion engine with energy-storing means having a high starting torque and. capable-of operation at relatively lowspeed and alsoh-aving full stall torque.

With the -foregoingand other objects in. view the invention consists of the details of constructiondescribed in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is aviewof the variable strokeinternal combustion engine with energy storing .means partly in section showing the piston .at the end of the compression. stroke prior to firing,

Figure 2 is a. similar view in which the piston is shownas approaching the limit of its power stroke prior to setting .the toggle linkage ll-l8 in operative position, Figure 3 shows theposition of .the parts of the variable stroke internal combustion engine with energy storing means when the-piston is. at the end of its exhaust stroke, and V Figure 4 shows-thejoint of the two-part connecting rod broken and the piston at the end of its suction stroke.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral l indicates a, power shaft on which-a main crank arm H is mounted with a. one-way'd'rive. clutch comprised by spring pressed rollers 12 interposed in such manner that during clockwise movement of the arm H rotary movement is imparted to the power shaft, whereas during movement of the crank arm inthe opposite .directionitrotates independently of the'power shaft. AJever [3 is freely rotatable on the shaft l0 and is connected with the crank arm H by a drive spring I4, one end of the spring being attached to the crank arm and the other end to the lever. The v,drive spring is of stiff modulus and ispre-tensioned and normally tends torotate thecrank arm II in a clockwise direction and the lever [3 in the counter-clockwise direction, the clockwise rotation of the crank armi being limitedby a stop 1'5 cooperating with a projection IS on the crank arm. The. stop 'l5is preferably of .a yieldable type seats to absorb the impact of the crank arm upon *2 its-return movementas will appear more "fully from the following description.

The torque of the spring M, in tending to rotate the crank arm II in the clockwise direc tionrand the lever L3 in the counter-clockwise direction, biases these elements towards radial alignment or registering position. A toggle linkagecon-sistingof alink I8 and a bell crank. lever [-7 is. connected .to the lever I3. The bell crank lever is pivotallymoun-ted .at 19 at a .fixed point and-theend-of the arm I! ispivotally connected at 20 to the adjacent extremity of .the link. l8 while theopposite end of the latter is pivotally connectedat 2 l-;to.the lever 13. When the lever arml 'l-and link'l8 aremoved slightlybeyond the position of alignment and into abutment withsa tri ger :2 2 the toggle linkage is effective toretain the lever l3 in-its inoperative position, whereas when the trigger 2-2 islswung around .its pivot 23 the to glejoint is broken and the tension-of the spring I becomes operative to swing the-lever I3 upwardly. in the counterclockwise direction.

Theouterlextremity of the crank arm l'l ispivotally'connected at with one endof a jointed twopart connecting rod 25-46, the adjacent endsofwhichare pivotally connected at ll. The opopsite end of the connecting rod is pivotally securedto a;piston 2.8 reciprocably mountediina horizontal cylinder 29. A roller 30 is rotatably mounted .at the ,p'ivotal connection between the parts of the connecting rod and is .movable througha guide 3lrduringxthe power stroke of the piston whereby :theparts of therod are maintained in alignment and :the thrust-of-the piston .ZS isimpar-tedtto the. crank arm II to causethe latterto-rswingabout.the power shaft lllwithout', however,v imparting rotary. motionrtheretodue =to pverarunning of the clutch 'll.v

The :modulus; and: pre-set tension of thespring, .l:4 aresufficientto preventthe crankarm H from being .rctatedin. the .counter-clockwise direction during the compression stroke.

--As the piston 18 .rea'chesthe .limit .of the following.-;exhaustzstrokeactuated by the-crank arm II vmovinglunder the influence of the spring 14', the roller. .30 assumes .a,position lying over. a: cut away portion-rot the guide 3:! sothat, upon applicationof downward pressure to the joint .between the. parts of the connecting rod, .the latter are caused to assume such angular positions that the ,piston 28 is moved in the direction offthe power shaft 10 a distance suflicient to draw a charge ofi'u'el mixture into'the combustion chamher through the inlet valve, as will hereinafter appear;

A piston actuating lever 32 is pivotally secured at 33a to a fixed point and is subjected to the compression of a spring 56 normally tending to swing the lever in the counter-clockwise direction. When the lever 32 is in the raised position the end surface 34b thereof forms a continuation of the cutaway portion of the guide 3| and coacting with the roller 36 maintains the parts of the connecting rod 25-26 in alignment. A finger 34a provided with a curved extremity is formed on the lever 32 and is operative when the latter is swung in a counter-clockwise direction to engage and lower the roller 21 and thereby break the joint of the two part connecting rod in such manner that the parts assume the angular position shown in Figure 4. a

The piston actuating lever 32 is locked in the raised position by a pivoted detent 35 having an outwardly extending toe 35a engageable by end surface 34b of the lever, the detent in turn being engageable by a releasingpin 36 operated by the extremity of the crank arm H at the limit of the clockwise movement of said crank arm immediately prior to the engagement of the projection IS with the stop l5. The releasing pin 36 is pivotally mounted by a strap 55 carried on a bolt 54. The detent 35 is biased by a spring 39 in such manner that it is normally held in operative looking position and after operation by the releasing pin 36 and the release of the piston actuating lever 32, said detent returns to its operative position so as to re-lock the lever 32 upon the return movement of the latter.

A manually operable lock 31 is movable into a position to prevent operation of the detent 35 and thus to terminate operation of the engine when desired. The extremity of the releasing pin 36 is provided with a spring pressed cap member 38 which is engageable with the detent 35 when the latter is locked by the member 31 and in this manner damage is prevented upon the return motion of the crank arm ll.

During the operative movement of the piston actuating lever 32 under the influence of the spring 56, the piston 28 is partially withdrawn, as stated, and also the extremity of said lever engages one end of the trigger 22 and in turning about its pivotal axis 23 said trigger displaces and breaks the joint of the pivoted members I1 and Hi. The lever 13 is thus released and permitted to turn freely about the power shaft in under the influence of the drive spring Hi. The extremity of the lever 13 is provided with a roller 40 mounted on a pin 42 which roller engages in a notch 41 in the lever 32 and restores the latter to raised position. A stop 33 limits the clockwise rotation of the lever 32 to such position. During the last mentioned return movement of the lever 32 the end surface 34b engages the roller 30 restoring the parts 25 and 26 of the connecting rod to alignment and the piston 28 is thus moved outwardly.

The lever 32 is held in the raised position by the roller 46 on the lever 13. The arm of the bell crank lever Ila opposite that connected with the link i8 is provided with a roller 34 which is engaged by the crank arm I I and restores the linkage ll-l 8 to operative position during the power stroke of the piston 28, as will hereinafter appear. The clockwise movement of the bell crank lever H is limited by a stop 43.

The head of the cylinder 29 is provided with inlet and exhaust valves 44 and 45, respectively, the stems of which are engaged and operable by a cam plate 46. The cam plate is supported and actuated by bell crank levers 41 and 48 connected with the links 49 and '50. The cam plate 46 is operative when fully raised, Figure 2, to engage and open the exhaust valve 45 and when moved downwardly to the limit of its movement, Figure 3, said cam plate opens the inlet valve 44. In the intermediate position of the cam plate, Figures 1 and 4, both valves assume the closed position and the charge in the combustion chamber of the cylinder is compressed by the piston 28. The link 50 is operated in one direction to raise the cam plate 46 and thereby open the exhaust valve 45 by an abutment 52 on the part 26 of the connecting rod engaging the angular end of the link 50. The cam plate 46 is moved in the opposite direction to permit the exhaust valve to close and to open the inlet valve 44 by an abutment 53 secured to the'part 26. The abutment 52 may be fixed but the abutment 53 is pivoted to the part 26 of the connecting rod and is normally held in raised operative position by a spring so that the part 26 may be freely raised at one stage in the operation of the device, as will hereinafter more fully appear. The cam plate 46 is moved to the intermediate position in which both valves 44 and 45 are closed by the trigger 22 engaging the extremity of the link 49 following the completion of the suction stroke of the piston 28.

In order to start the engine the lever I3 must be moved from the raised-position of Figure l to the lower position of Figure 4. To accomplish this a starting mechanism is provided. This mechanism is comprised principally by a reciprocable bar 51 having an upper hook end 510. and rack teeth 511) on its under side. The bar 51 is guided between a pair of rollers 58 mounted on pivots 59 and a spur pinion 62 fixed to a rotatable stub shaft 63. A coil spring 60 attached at one end to a pin BI and at the other end to the reciprocable bar 51 biases this bar toward the right (Fig. l). The stub shaft 63 has affixed thereto a crank arm 64 with a handle 65 thereon for rotating the spur pinion 62.

For starting the engine the spur pinion 62 is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction (Figure 1) by the handle 65 and crank arm 64 thereby raising the reciprocable bar 51. The upper or hook end 5111. of this bar will pass over the pivot pin 42 of the roller 40 but will thereafter become engaged with same due to the action of the coil spring 60 pulling the bar toward the right (Figure 1). The spur pinion 62 is now rotated in a clockwise direction and draws the reciprocable bar 51 and the lever l3 downwardly. When the lever 13 reaches the position shown in Figure 4, in which the arm l1 and link iii are aligned, the pivot pin 42 becomes disengaged from the hook end 51a of the reciprocable bar due to this pivot pin having travelled in an are beyond the end of the hook end of the reciprocable bar.

The power unit operates as follows:

Assuming the piston 28 has completed its compression stroke, as shown in Figure l, the piston actuating lever 32 being locked in raised position by the lever l3 through the roller 46, with the toggle linkage l1l8 broken, the bell crank lever being spaced from the crank arm II and the abutment 53 being depressed by engagement with the link 50. The charge compressed in the combustion chamber is ignited either by a spark or by the heat developed by high compression and during the ensuing power stroke of the piston the movement thereof is transmitted to the crank arm ll through the connecting rod, the parts 2526 of which are maintained in alignment by cooperation of the roller 30' with the sur face 34b of the lever 32 and the guide 3|; After limitedmovement of the crank arm H thebel-l crank Ha is engaged and swung clockwise, thereby swinging the lever I-3 downwardly through the arm I! and link [8 through the position, shown in Figure 2 to-that shown in Figure3 until the link l8 assumes its off-center position and comes to rest against the triggerZ-Z. Also, during the initial movement of the crank arm H, the latter frees the releasing pink36 and the detent 35 is released and is pulled into abutting engagement withthe end surface 34b of the lever 32 by the spring 39. The clutch l2 permits the crank arm to freely turnabout. the shaft I0 during the power stroke of the piston and in so doing the tension of the drive spring I4 is greatly increased due to the fact that -one.end of the spring is attached to the crankstl and the other end is held by the piston return lever [3, the latter having been swung to its lowered position by the alignment of the toggle linkage ll-'I'8. As the piston 28 approaches the limit of its power stroke, Figure 2, the cam plate 46 is lifted by the engagement of the abutment 52 with the link 50 and the exhaust valve 45 is opened thereby permitting the escape of the products of combustion. Upon the reduction of pressure in the cylinder 29 the energy stored in the spring l4 operates to effect the exhaust stroke of the piston 28 through the rod 25--26 and the clockwise movement of the arm II is transmitted to the power shaft II] through the clutch l2 thereby imparting a power impulse to the shaft Ill. The motion of the crank arm I I is arrested by engagement of the projection It with the yieldable stop l5. Near the limit of the exhaust stroke of the piston 28 the abutment 53 engages and shifts the link 50 and lowers the cam plate 46 thereby permitting closing of the exhaust valve 45 and opening the inlet valve 44, as shown in Figure 3.

Assuming that the normally operated lock 31 is in the inoperative position, the crank arm II in approaching the limit of its clockwise power transmitting movement engages and operates the releasing pin 35 which swings the detent 35 releasing the lever 32, Figure 3, and permitting the latter to turn counter-clockwise under the influence of the spring 55 to the position shown in Figure 4. As the lever 32 starts its downward movement finger 34a engages the roller 30, moving it and the piston rod sections 25-26 into the angular position as shown in Figure 4. The outer end of the part 25 of the piston rod is held by the crank arm H and consequently as the parts of the piston rod are thus moved into angular relation, the piston 28 is so moved as to draw a charge of fuel into the combustion chamber through the open inlet valve 44.

When the tip of the lever 32 strikes the trigger 22 the latter is swung to a position in which the joint of the toggle linkage ll-l8 is broken and the lever I3 is released thereby permitting the spring l4 to swing the lever l3 and also the lever 32 upwardly, the roller 40 on the lever 13 coming into engagement with the lever 32. The roller 43 abuts the upper end of the notch 4| in the lever 32 and the lever I3, through the linkage l'!-l8, holds the roller 34 spaced a slight distance from the crank arm H as shown in Figure 1. The motion of the trigger 22 operates the link 49 moving the cam plate 45 to an intermediate position in which both valves 44 and 45 are permitted to close and as the lever 32 is restored to raised position the parts 26 and 25 acts-pro of the piston rod are returned into alignment, the abutment 53 beingdepressed byengagement with the end of the link 50, as shown in Figure 1. During the compression strokethe crank H is held in the'forward position of Figure 1 against the pressure on the piston 28 by the resistance or pre-set of the spring [4. Thus the piston 23 is caused tocompressthe fuel charge in the combustion chamber. The lever l3 and-roller 40 lock thelever 3-2 and upon the ignition of the compressed charge the sequence of operations abovedescribed is repeated.

The operation of the variable stroke internal combustion engine with energy storing means may be terminated when desired by swinging the manually operated lock 31 into position to obstruct movement of the detent 35 in which case the cap '38 ofthe release pin 36 yields to prevent damage.

A1thon h in the embodimentof the invention illustrated in the drawing only one cylinder is shown, it willbe understood that a plurality of cylinders may be used in which case the crank arms H and related mechanism would be preferably arranged to operate in succession so as to insure a more uniform and continuous application of driving force to the shaftlfl. In such an embodiment clutches [2 of the overrunning type are used, as may be understood, whereas in the single cylinder unit a suitable device is preferably provided to prevent reverse rotation of the main shaft.

What I claim is:

1. In a power unit, an internal combustion engine cylinder and a piston movable in said cylinder, a power shaft, an arm movably mounted on said shaft, a two-part jointed rod connecting said piston and arm, a device for storing energy actuated by said arm during the power stroke of said piston, a clutch, said energy storing device at the end of the power stroke being operative through the arm and clutch to drive said shaft and to effect the exhaust stroke of said piston, means for guiding and maintainin the parts of said rod inalignment throughout the major portion of the piston stroke, and piston actuating means controlled by said arm and operative to move the parts of the rod into angular relation to effect a partial suction stroke of the piston and to subsequently restore the rod parts to aligned position to effect the compression stroke of the piston.

2. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the piston actuating means is constituted in part by said energy storin device.

3. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston actuating means includes a spring actuated member movable in one direction to engage and move the parts of the piston rod into angular position, said member being moved in the opposite direction to restore the rod parts to aligned position by said energy storing device.

4. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, provided with manually operable means for disabling the piston actuating means and terminating operation of the power unit.

5. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston actuating means includes a spring actuated member movable in one direction to move the parts of the rod into angular relation, a restoring member operated by the energy storing device for moving the first mentioned member in the opposite direction, means operative to lock the restoring member in inoperative position, and.

means to release said locking means operable by the first mentioned member.

6. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, provided with shock absorbing means cooperating with said arm to yieldably limit the movement of the latter under the influence of the energy storing device.

7. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piston actuating means includes a spring actuated member movable in one direction to move the parts of the rod into angular relation, a restoring member operated by the energy storing device for moving the first mentioned member in the opposite direction, means operative to lock the restoring member in inoperative position, means to release said locking means operable by the first mentioned member, and means actuated by said arm during the power stroke of the piston to return the second mentioned member to inoperative position.

8. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, provided with a valve mechanism for controlling the inlet and exhaust of said cylinder, means on the twopart rod for actuating said mechanism to open and close said valves, and means operative to move said mechanism to an intermediate position during the compression stroke of the piston.

9. A power unit as claimed in claim 1, provided with a valve mechanism for controlling the exhaust and inlet of said cylinder, means controlled by the two-part rod for actuating said mechanism to control the inlet and exhaust, and means operative by the piston actuating means for moving the valve mechanism to an intermediate position durin the compression stroke of the piston.

ROLAND M. KING.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Osborn Apr. 30, 1901 Number 

